The Judicial Yuan yesterday proposed several measures aimed at reforming the justice system.
Among them were proposals to amend the Code of Criminal Procedure (刑事訴訟法) to prevent defendants from fleeing the country before being sentenced and other changes that would facilitate court proceedings, Judicial Yuan Secretary-General Lu Tai-lang (呂太郎) told a news conference in Taipei.
The Judicial Yuan is mulling rules to have a defendant in court for their verdict and more powers to detain them, Lu said, adding that district prosecutors’ offices would be able to detain a defendant who has been sentenced to death or a prison term of more than two years.
Photo: Chien Jung-fong, Taipei Times
Prosecutors would be able to detain people before a verdict is issued, especially if there is good reason to believe they might try to flee, he said.
The move comes after years of criticism that the law is ineffective, with critics pointing to people during former president Ma Ying-jeou's (馬英九) term whom fled the nation before serving their sentence, such as former legislator Lo Fu-chu (羅福助); former Miaoli County commissioner Ho Chih-hui (何智輝); Wan Chung (萬眾), who is wanted for extortion and racketeering; former Kaohsiung prosecutor Ching Tien-po (井天博); and former Chinese National Federation of Industries chairman Preston Chen (陳武雄).
Another proposal was to do away with typed transcripts in “easier” cases — such as when defendants plead guilty — with video or audio recordings being sufficient, Lu said.
The recordings would only need to be notarized if parties to the case sought to clarify points of court procedure, he said, adding that courts could outsource typing of court registers to private contractors that are familiar with the law using the recordings.
That would ease workloads for the registry and judges, and judges would be less prone to staring at the screen displaying the transcript and could focus on the people in court, Lu said.
The Judicial Yuan is also contemplating out-of-court settlements on the appellate circuit. Out-of-court settlements are only allowed in trial courts, due to a shortage of judges — 2,022 — compared with the number of cases — 3.2 million per year — Lu said.
The Judicial Yuan is also seeking to allow related cases to be combined, as there can be conflicting rulings in cases that are related but conducted separately, with first and second trials presided over by different judges.
The proposals were raised yesterday, with the Presidential Office’s preparatory committee for judicial reform to hold group discussions once every two weeks starting tomorrow.
The discussions will culminate with a national affairs conference on judicial reform, expected to take place in June.
NO-LIMITS PARTNERSHIP: ‘The bottom line’ is that if the US were to have a conflict with China or Russia it would likely open up a second front with the other, a US senator said Beijing and Moscow could cooperate in a conflict over Taiwan, the top US intelligence chief told the US Senate this week. “We see China and Russia, for the first time, exercising together in relation to Taiwan and recognizing that this is a place where China definitely wants Russia to be working with them, and we see no reason why they wouldn’t,” US Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines told a US Senate Committee on Armed Services hearing on Thursday. US Senator Mike Rounds asked Haines about such a potential scenario. He also asked US Defense Intelligence Agency Director Lieutenant General Jeffrey Kruse
INSPIRING: Taiwan has been a model in the Asia-Pacific region with its democratic transition, free and fair elections and open society, the vice president-elect said Taiwan can play a leadership role in the Asia-Pacific region, vice president-elect Hsiao Bi-khim (蕭美琴) told a forum in Taipei yesterday, highlighting the nation’s resilience in the face of geopolitical challenges. “Not only can Taiwan help, but Taiwan can lead ... not only can Taiwan play a leadership role, but Taiwan’s leadership is important to the world,” Hsiao told the annual forum hosted by the Center for Asia-Pacific Resilience and Innovation think tank. Hsiao thanked Taiwan’s international friends for their long-term support, citing the example of US President Joe Biden last month signing into law a bill to provide aid to Taiwan,
China’s intrusive and territorial claims in the Indo-Pacific region are “illegal, coercive, aggressive and deceptive,” new US Indo-Pacific Commander Admiral Samuel Paparo said on Friday, adding that he would continue working with allies and partners to keep the area free and open. Paparo made the remarks at a change-of-command ceremony at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where he took over the command from Admiral John Aquilino. “Our world faces a complex problem set in the troubling actions of the People’s Republic of China [PRC] and its rapid buildup of forces. We must be ready to answer the PRC’s increasingly intrusive and
STATE OF THE NATION: The legislature should invite the president to deliver an address every year, the TPP said, adding that Lai should also have to answer legislators’ questions The Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) yesterday proposed inviting president-elect William Lai (賴清德) to make a historic first state of the nation address at the legislature following his inauguration on May 20. Lai is expected to face many domestic and international challenges, and should clarify his intended policies with the public’s representatives, KMT caucus secretary-general Hung Meng-kai (洪孟楷) said when making the proposal at a meeting of the legislature’s Procedure Committee. The committee voted to add the item to the agenda for Friday, along with another similar proposal put forward by the Taiwan People’s Party (TPP). The invitation is in line with Article 15-2